You Know My Name, Not My Story
by thelivingtunic
Summary: The kids of Third Street School are starting their first year of high school. But they could never prepare themselves for what they're about to go through. Warnings: Drug and alcohol ref, violence, pregnancy. R & R!
1. TJ's First Thoughts

**Okay, first of all: I know this is totally overdone. BUT! What makes this different from all the other "Recess gang in High school" fics? Well...This is more focused on the background characters, the little guys. Each one of them brings a little _something_ to the show, and I'd like to see a story that mentions _their_ high school experiences. So I'm just going to write one. No worries, TJ and his friends will still be in the story. It's just...It'll show other characters who have their own problems. This is also my _first_ first person point-of-view story, so it's kind of like practice. **

**Anyway, I do not own Recess. I only own Ivy, a character I made up for my own amusement.**

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><p><em><strong>TJ's POV<strong>_

I couldn't believe it. It was the first day of high school. For once I'd gotten there early, to wait for my friends. While I waited, I saw a few familiar faces of people who went to Third Street School: the diggers passed by with two "Hey TJ"s; Sam and Dave looked the same as usual, just older. Francis, or Hustler Kid (though the 'kid' part had been dropped by now) was at work hustling the people who had gotten here early. Of course he'd be wearing his trademark trench coat.

I recognized a few other people as well. I saw Guru Kid, though he'd insisted on being called Jimmy at the end of middle school. Swinger girl no longer dressed like an aviator; instead she wore a yellow tank top, skinny jeans, sneakers, and her old goggles. Her red hair was as curly as ever, and when she smiled I could tell that the braces she'd had all through middle school were off now-a-days. I also saw a girl I didn't know overly well but I recognized. I think her name was Ivy; she sort of turned into a punk at the start of middle school (it was sort of surprising, since she seemed to be best friends with Francis; the look on his face had been **_priceless_**!) and it seemed to have stuck. Her dark brown hair now had electric blue streaks, as opposed to the neon green she had last year (that had earned her the nickname "Poison Ivy") and it was up in pigtails. This year she had headphones around her neck, and three facial piercings.

Well my friends still hadn't shown up. I decided to cut through the crowd of students, and a few minutes later I'd caught up to Francis.

"Hey Francis," I said from behind him. He stiffened ever so slightly before turning around.

"Hey Detweiler. Call me Hustler," he answered. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure thing. I was just wondering if you had seen Ivy yet?" I asked. He looked at me a little weirdly.

"Not yet. Is she even here?" he questioned, whispering. I don't know what his deal was, but he either didn't want people to know he was asking someone a question, or he didn't want people to know he was talking about Ivy. It was kind of weird.

"Yeah man," I answered, pointing the punk girl out to him. Francis just stared at her for a minute, not really blinking. I figured he was startled by the piercings.

"I'll see you later...Maybe," Francis said, pushing his way towards Ivy. I just grinned as he went.

"Hey Teej!" a voice behind me exclaimed. I turned around and spotted my best friend, Vince LaSalle. He was still taller than me, just wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Vince hadn't really changed all that much.

"Hey Vince! Pumped for this year?" I asked.

"Yeah, this is going to be—"Vince replied before I cut him off.

"Tender," I smirked. He nodded, smirking back.

"I was about to say that."

"Teej, Vince!" another voice called out. We turned to look, both of us smiling when we saw who it was.

"Spinelli!" I called back, and she ran over to us. Her black hair hung down past her shoulders. Her right ear had a few piercings, her nails were painted black, and on her feet were boots very similar to those she wore in elementary school.

She pulled out a crumpled piece of paper out of one of her jeans pocket. Uncrumpling it showed that it was her schedule. "What classes do you guys have?" she asked. Vince and I pulled out our own schedules.

"Well I've got Math first," I groaned. I hated math; it wasn't exactly my strongest subject. Then again, my strongest 'subject' had to be practical joking.

"Same here," Vince said to me. I grinned; at least I'd have my best friend in my class. Well, most likely; he could, to my horror, end up in another math class.

"Looks like I've got English," Spinelli grumbled.

"As do I," another voice piped up. We all turned to spot Mikey. His hair was longer and he looked older, but other than that he wasn't much different.

"Hey Mikey," we called out. Once he had wandered over to us, we all continued to compare schedules.

My schedule turned out to look like this: Math, Biology, History, Lunch, Business and P.E. Vince had math, lunch and P.E. with me, while Spinelli had lunch and P.E. with us, as did Mikey. It seemed like our whole group would have P.E. together, at least.

Gretchen and Gus showed up fairly soon. Gus was taller now and had more muscle. He was looking more like his dad build-wise, but he still wasn't quite there yet. Gretchen's hair was longer now and she just left it down, while she wore a white T-shirt, a baby blue sweater, jeans and a pink belt. We all smiled a little while rolling our eyes. Same old Gretchen, always wearing the same old colour scheme.

"So what classes do you guys have?" Vince asked Gus and Gretchen.

"Well I've got Drama, Biology, History, Lunch, Spanish and finally P.E.," Gus replied first.

"I have English, Chemistry, Physics, Lunch, Geology and P.E.," Gretchen stated calmly. Vince and I let out a couple of loud whoops, as we all had lunch and P.E together.

As the bell rang and we entered the school, there was only one thing running through my mind.

_This year will be great._ Boy, if I knew then what I know now...Well I'd be scared shitless.

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><p><strong>Well, I know it's short but this is what I've got. I know I said this wasn't going to be mainly about TJ, this is just what I decided on for the opening chapter. I think the characters this will mostly focus on will be Guru Kid...Swinger girl...Francis...The diggers...Menlo...Even Randall...And of course others, but these happen to be the least used characters I've seen in these Recess-High school fanfics. Naturally, someone has to write for the little guys...There will also be Cornchip girl, Upside Down girl, Peanut Butter kid, Mundy, Skeens, Sleepy Kid, Sue Bob Murphy, and Kurst the Worst...Right, I almost forgot Butch (sorry slash fangirls, he's not going to be with Francis!) though these guys won't get very prominent parts. So I hope you stick with this, and I also hope you enjoy it...It's going to get <em>VERY DRAMATIC...<em>**


	2. FootInMouth Syndrome

**Here's the second chapter. I dunno what else to say here. Sorry if the ending's not that good, I wrote it at like 2:30 am last night, okay? Enjoy!**

**I don't own Recess. The only thing I own is my OC Ivy. **

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><p><em><strong>Menlo's POV<strong>_

I watched the students in my math class file in slowly. Of course I had been the first one in the room, and of course I sat at the front of the classroom. My hair was cut short and even, and like elementary school and middle school I wore a dress shirt and pants, a tie and loafers. I also wore a sweater vest.

I watched TJ Detweiler and Vince LaSalle walk in. They naturally took seats at the back of the class. After them, I noticed Butch come in, then Francis the hustler, then Lindsay (formerly known as Swinger girl). Finally, just before the teacher shut the door, Mundy, Skeens and Alan (formerly known as Sleepy Kid) slipped in. I shuddered a little; having these hooligans in my math class would surely be...Unpleasant.

Anyway, class got started then. Since it was the first day, I was the only one to pay strict attention. Though there were a few times when I felt spitballs hit my neck, which I ignored. Thinking back on it, I figured Francis was probably distributing the straws. Lovely.

We ended up getting assigned a short essay about ourselves; boring. The bell rang and I was the last one of the classroom, go figure.

"Do you want to buy a towel? After seeing you get pelted by all those spit balls, I figure you could use one," Francis said to me, leaning against the wall. I rolled my eyes.

"How much?" I asked him. I knew he was likely going to rip me off, but it was availability. Not to mention I didn't feel much like heading off to my next class with these spit balls on my neck.

"For you...Let's say $25," Francis smirked.

"No way. That's too much."

"$30, and I'll throw in a second towel."

"Ugh...Fine," I agreed. I forked over the cash, and Francis handed me two fairly small towels. I should've guessed they'd be small; they had to be worth no more than five or six dollars each, and I had just paid $15 for each!

"All sales are final," the hustler called, already disappearing down the hall. I sighed, heading to my locker. I opened it (the lockers had been assigned just before first period this morning) and put one of the towels inside. I used the other to wipe the back of my neck. After more than a dozen spit balls fell off into the towel, I put it in my locker as well. Shutting my locker door, I headed off to my second class: chemistry.

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><p><em><strong>Francis' POV<strong>_

After ripping off that dweeb Menlo, I slunk off. Man, he had actually paid $30 for two cheap hand towels! I chuckled as I attempted to find my best friend Ivy before next class. I felt like telling how I'd been busy all math class; I'd sold half of my classmates straws and paper ($3 a straw and $.50 a paper) so they could shoot spit balls at Menlo. I know, I know; that's elementary school stuff. Who the hell am I to stand in my immature classmates' ways, though? If they wanted to shoot spit balls at nerds, I'd supply them willingly...At a price, of course.

I found Ivy by my locker. Hers was just down the hall (lucky for us). She grinned at me as I approached, and I told her about my productive math class. She laughed a little, before telling me about her first class. She'd just finished telling me about it when the bell rang. Ivy head off with a wave, while I went off to English.

I took a seat at the back of the room. The Ashleys were seated together in the middle. I soon spotted Jimmy (he used to be Guru Kid back at Third Street and even in middle school for the first year) and to my immense horror, Randall Weems sat down right in front of me! It was only the first day and I already wanted to puke, but it only got worse when our teacher, Mr. Nucket, announced that these seats would be our seats for the rest of the term! I slammed my head down on my desk loudly. Luckily, the Ashleys squealed in delight at the exact same time, so no one really noticed my would-be attempt to give myself brain damage. Randall just snickered. What did I do wrong? Of all the people in this class, Weems just had to sit in front of me...Well, whatever I guess. As long as that snitch didn't try to talk to me, I'm kind of okay with this.

"Hey Francis," the snitch said, turning around in his seat. Damn it, I have the worst luck sometimes. I lifted my head and gave Randall a look that could kill him ten times over (if looks could kill, that is).

"Turn around Randall," I hissed. He turned around, and I thought that maybe this wouldn't be totally awful. Until he turned around again a few minutes later.

"Sp how's business been? What have you been selling lately?" he asked. Why was he trying to talk to me? Everyone's hated him since Kindergarten, and Randall very well knew that. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a few classmates glancing this way. If the school snitch kept talking to me, my business might have taken a hit. I wasn't going to let that happen.

"Stop it Weems, I don't want to talk to you. Unless you want to buy something..." I suggested, wondering if that was why Randall was bothering me.

"No money," Randall said simply, shrugging. I felt my last bit of patience for the snitch snap (to be honest, I've never been a super patient guy to begin with, but I have even less patience for Randall C. Weems).

"Well then, don't talk to me. I'm not your friend, and I never will be. You've been snitching on people since Kindergarten, why would you ever think that anyone who went to Third Street elementary would want to have anything to do with you?" I hissed angrily. Randall looked at me for only a second, before facing forward.

Towards the end of class I realized how much of an asshole I sounded like for saying what I had said to Randall. He had kept his head down, focusing on the worksheet that had been passed out. I sighed and rubbed my temples. To I felt "bad" about what I'd said wouldn't be quite right—if I had an active conscious, I wouldn't cheat people out of their money and constantly lie to them, right? But Randall hadn't really done anything wrong; he had only tried to be a bit social, which was more than he usually did. Plus it wasn't snitching. After a few more minutes of mentally debating with myself, I decided that for once Randall sort of deserved an apology, even though the thought of saying "Randall I'm sorry" gnawed at my innards and made me feel a bit sick.

Just then everyone began to rise out of their seats. I looked to the clock to realize we were in the last five minutes of class. I rose to me feet before tapping Randall on the shoulder (his shoulders were still so hunched that they almost made me nauseous. Then this IS Randall, so what about him DOESN'T almost make me vomit in my mouth?). He turned and looked up at me—shit, he was still so damn _short_—with surprise.

"Randall, I'm—"I started, but I was cut off by the bell. The snitched shrugged, not caring, and raced out the door. I didn't feel like such a jerk now that Randall didn't seem to care about what I had said, so I just strolled out of the classroom.

By the time lunch rolled around I was in a bad mood. Last class hadn't gone too well for me. Then again it had been art, and I've never really been overly good at it. As soon as I got to the cafeteria Ivy came up to me, holding two trays. She handed me one, and we sat down at the nearest table. At least I didn't have to wait in line to get my lunch.

"So how was Art?" Ivy asked me. I just looked at her.

"Shitty," I answered simply. "Art has never been my strong point."

"I love art," Ivy gushed. "I had it first thing this morning, and the only thing I hated about it was that you weren't there," she continued.

"Do we even have a class together?" I asked, taking another bite of lunch. To be honest, I'd never even thought of asking her what two classes she had after lunch that morning, before school started. No, that had been for talking about summer vacation, even if he had spent it together.

"Of course we do, Francis! Do you really think I'd let you take Business by yourself? And I'm not going to miss the chance of seeing you running around in P.E. at the end of the day, either!" my best friend exclaimed. I choked on my lunch; Ivy in gym class? I couldn't quite believe it somehow. I coughed a few times. "Francis, are you okay?" she asked worriedly, sliding a little closer to me. For a girl who was really shy about being in her first relationship (she didn't want anyone at school to know about it) she certainly had no problem getting close to people.

"I'm fine," I wheezed, giving her a small smile. "Let's get to hustling, shall we?"

"Lead the way, hustler," Ivy jumped up, spreading her arms out widely. I stood up slower, and we headed out of the cafeteria to wait at my usual spot.

It turned out to be a busy lunch. I hadn't really expected people to need to buy things off me quite that much within the first week of school, but I'm not complaining. Ivy was kept just as busy, seeing as she's my assistant. She's pretty good at it though; she's been my assistant since the start of middle school. It all started with her going around making sure my business had a good reputation. Though she kept claiming that business wasn't her passion and she wanted to do something more creative when she got older.

After stopping at our lockers, we trotted off towards Business. I only took this for an easy A; I already knew all the crap the course could possible cover. Hell, I'd known it all since I had started hustling in elementary school. Ivy was taking it to be beside me.

We walked past Lawson. We had both always just ignored him since elementary, and he usually ignored us too. This time, however, he whistled at Ivy, making her blush.

I really didn't realize what I'd said in response to that until it was a bit too late. "He must be desperate," I said aloud. Naturally I'd meant that he usually only whistled at blondes (it had happened all the time in middle school) and/or cheerleaders, not punks.

Well needless to say, that wasn't how Ivy took it. She stopped in the middle of the hallway and glared at me, her eyes and cheeks burning. "So only desperate guys like me," she hissed. I opened my mouth to set her straight, but she continued. "So only desperate guys think I'm attractive." I saw tears begin to form in her eyes.

"No Ivy, that's not—"I tried, but she didn't want to hear it.

"Thanks for showing me what you think, Francis!" I stood there, speechless, just watching my best friend stomp off to Business.

I felt like there was a knot in my stomach and I wanted to skip this period. I knew I had to try to work it out with her though, so I shuffled off to my "easy" class that no longer looked quite so easy. I stopped outside the door. Shit, I really didn't want to go in. So I just stepped inside anyway, and the whole class fell dead silent.

_Surprised to see me?_ I thought, taking the last empty seat. Ironically it was where I'd wanted to be mere minutes ago: right beside Ivy. She still looked furious. Halfway through class, I scribbled a messy not and passed it to her. Angry though she was, she took it.

_That wasn't what I'd meant. He only whistles at blondes and cheerleaders, you know that._ Ivy scribbled something back and passed it to me.

_Then what do you really think of me?_ I didn't even have to think about it.

_I think you're beautiful. Nearly as beautiful as my business._

_Gee, thanks._ I could see her smiling a bit though.

_I'm kidding._ When she read it, she looked up at me and smiled, and I know this is cheesy and embarrassing and I wouldn't want anyone to know this but it felt like my heart was going to beat itself straight out of my chest.

_I'm sorry I overreacted._

_It's fine, as long as you're still up for being my assistant...Or partner._

_Partner? Really?_ Her green eyes were huge, and I chuckled.

_Mhm. But the pay goes 80/20, 80 for me._

_I don't even care, I didn't think you'd ever want a partner!_

_Yeah. Honestly, I thought that too. But I'm lucky to have you_. We smiled at each other discreetly, not listening to the teacher whatsoever.

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><p><strong>Ok, I know the part with Menlo is short, but I was never going to have him as a main focus anyway...I feel like Francis goes OOC about the part with Randall, then gets back into character a bit, and then goes out again. Don't worry, Randall <em>WILL<em> be his usual snitchy self later on, I guess this is just a part of his little subplot which is actually quite similar to Menlo's (but Menlo's is better!) Lawson won't show up much in this story either. I'm trying to keep Francis' issues under wraps for a while, so it's gonna go quite slow with him. **

**So far the schedules look like this:**

**TJ- Math, Biology, History, lunch, Business, P.E**

**Vince- Math, -something-, -something-, lunch, -something-, P.E**

**Spinelli- English, -something-, Art, lunch, -something-, P.E**

**Gretchen- English, Chemistry, Physics, lunch, Geology, P.E**

**Gus- Drama, Biology, History, lunch, Spanish, P.E**

**Menlo- Math, Chemistry, -something-, lunch, no idea what after that**

**Francis- Math, English, Art, lunch, Business, P.E**

**Ivy- Art, -something-, -something-, lunch, Business, P.E**

**Dang, seems I've been throwing them all into the same P.E period...Except Menlo. Oh well, that could be an interesting P.E...Anyway I just put in the schedules so people can see the overlapping classes (nooope, not trying to make it easier on myself at all...Heheh...) But if anyone could help me fill in a few blanks, I'd appreciate it!**

**Next chapter is either going to be about Guru Kid, Butch, or the Diggers. I'm not sure yet.**


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